Do you think this saddle fits?

Firewell

Firewell

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I'm paranoid about my new saddle!

I *think* its fitting fine. It doesn't move on his back, it sits level and the horse really likes it but after thinking my old saddle fitted when it didn't i'm now worried.

The saddler said it is fine and very good but then my old saddler said my old saddle was fine (when it wasn't!!).

This is the numnah mark from my new saddle:-

summer11051.jpg


Appologise for the fact it highlights how dirty my dusty horse is :p. This is after a week of wearing this cloth with the saddle.

The thing i'm worried about is the two 'dry' marks either side of the wither area. Is this normal? Im assuming its just where the saddle is sitting close to his side?! Its not putting too much pressure there is it? I like how it seems to show that the saddle is clearing his spine and that the panels are sitting close across the length of his back and not bridging?! Does this look like it should?

This is the saddle on my horse:-

250269_10150257155360210_503675209_8960322_7129151_n.jpg


I do trust the saddler (new saddle is gorgeous!) I just need my mind putting at rest really with some second opinions as i'm paranoid about saddles again now.

Thanks :)
 
First things first does your horse move and jump freely in it? If so I wouldn't worry.

A few checks.
Stand him up square and it should sit level on his back.
You should be able to run your hand down the front of it with no rider on board.

My saddler told me that when mine need reflocking/adjusting there will be a sudden change in my horse's movement, he will become stuffy/reluctant to go forward etc.
 
Thanks,
Yes he does move freely, so much better then in his old saddle :). I can run my hand underneath the front when I'm not on him, when I'm on I can't. It sits level.

I think I'm just being paranoid :p, saddle fitting can be such a minefield though can't it! :)
 
I know what you mean, its taken me a while to find a good saddler and he travels 3 hours to get to me. Those are the things he told me to check for, its good that the dirt on your saddlecloth is even as well. I've had saddles fitted that are far too wide in the past, so when he fitted mine I got him to show me everything he was looking for because to me they seemed too snug. But my horse's move really well in them, I've just been used to badly fitting saddles.

Also I asked my saddler about getting my hand down the front parts when I'm sat on them, and he said no way! Haha, not sure if I should be offended :p.
 
I would say from that picture of your numnah, yes it fits. Quite well, as well, as the marks on both side's are the same. The dry patches could be loads of different things, could be where that there is less musle?, could be from the movement of your horses shoulder, loads of things.
My saddler who I have known for years now, gave me some fab advise on to cheak your saddle. Place your hand under the front at the side (Where horses shoulder moves backwards) get a friend to pick up the front leg and hold it out forwards a little. You should feel your horses musle move back towards where your hand is, if you feel pain at this then so does your horse. If no pain then the front is fine for your horse.
My old saddle rubbed the back of my pony so another one is, place your hand under the back of the saddle (in the middle) and then using a friend as test dummy, get them to lean back as far as your can. Again pain in your hand pain in horses back. I'm not saying this is how to fit one but gives you a good idea on if your horse changes.

Sorry for the long post but it helped me to calm down over my ponies new saddle and fit.
 
It absolutely does not fit one jot and you must return the saddle along with the pony to the following address... :D :D :D

Looks very even pressure to me, lighter patches could just be less scurf in the area?
 
Thanks!
LouS that's what I thought! 'crikey I can't get my hand under here!' surely I'm not THAT heavy ;).
Picolenicole they are good tips :). My horse is really moving his shoulder in it while being ridden so I can't imagine it's pinching but I will test :).
Winklepoker you will have to refund me my 1million pounds please ;) oh and one dappled grey warmblood :D
 
Try not to worry too much- it is a minefield but it looks fine to me and as you have done the basic checks yourself as well I think you should be fine.

I have a Butet and my vet and 'normal' saddler told me it didn't fit at all- then got the Butet fitter out who said it was perfect??!! He fits saddles to Olympic riders etc so I was so worried and didn't know who to trust. Ended up sticking with it as the horse seemed perfectly comfortable which is the main thing.

All saddler, physios, back people etc all tend to disagree with each other.....I think we have to go with our gut feeling to some extent! :)
 
Does your horse have hollows behind the withers? - I'd guess that was why there are white spaces in the dirt on the saddlecloth. The hollows mean the saddle doesn't touch the horse at that point. Only way to rectify that is to have a saddler put front gussets in
 
I'm going to disagree with everyone!

I think your saddle may well not fit. I think it imay be too tight on either side of his wither where those light patches are. The light patches very often occur because the additional pressure suppresses the horse's sweat and the tightness stops them moving, so without water and movement they do not pick up as much dirt.

My suspicion is that it is too wide, because I think I can see from the photo that when you are in it , it is tipped very slightly down in front. If that's the case, I would pad it up a bit with a front riser because it's quite likely that he will muscle out into it.

If it is too narrow, that's a different problem altogether, but I don't think it's the issue with yours from what I can see.

I have found that horses in fixed tree saddles often go very well whenever a saddle is changed, and then slowly go back to the way they were before as they get used to the new places that the new saddle sits. The only saddles I have not found this with are WOWs which do not have a fixed tree. I am not a WOW rep, just trying to explain why you feel your horse is going well even though I think your saddle may well not fit perfectly - he IS going well.

Try a little front padding and see how you feel.

ps If you think your numnah is dirty you should see mine :) !!
 
No Zoon he doesn't have hollows, he's a bit of a tabletop tbh, there is a slight hollow on the right hand side due to muscle wastage from his old saddle but that's it.
The saddle said he's actually a bit tricky to fit a saddle too as he doesn't have hollows and isn't the normal TB shape. Just hope it's not digging in that's all.
 
Thanks cptrayes, that is my suspicion!
It's a M/W but I think it's quite a wide M/W. The saddler has flocked it up at the front once but it has settled down a bit again although there is still plenty of clearance over his wither.
I've put a sheepskin pad under it and it seemed a bit better.
The osteo and saddler did say he has yet to fill out more as he's still just 6years and his right shoulder is not as developed as his left so that needs to bulk out more as well.
I have a front riser I can try and a prolite pad so lots of options untill he grows a bit more :).
 
Lovely horse you have.

Another tip from my saddler:You should be able to get three fingers sideways between his withers and the pommel.

To me, the saddle does look like it is sitting a little low at the front, but it's hard to see from a picture!!. If it is too wide, like me, you could use a nuumed sheepskin numnah (or similar) and a Prolite wither pad to fill in the gaps. This advice was given to me by a master saddler, as my old pony is very much in between sizes with a dipped back.
 
Yes, don't worry too much about it firewell, it's probably exactly the right saddle for him with another 6 months work. You just need to find a way meanwhile to raise it a little in front, even if it does pass the 3 finger test. I wouldn't let the saddler put any more in it. One because you won't need it once he has muscled up. Two because it makes the panel rounded and makes the area it sits on a mound instead of a flat/slightly curved panel.

I think you'll be fine with it.
 
Thanks! I'll keep a prolite or a sheepskin pad under it for now and the saddler says he will come back in 3 months unless I'm not happy I'm which case I can call him before hand. He's very nice so I don't think it will be an issue :).
 
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